Bu Eunseol could not comprehend it.
The terms like Earth-Killer Star or Heaven-Killer Star were merely inauspicious stars spoken of in astrology or Taoism—metaphorical ominous portents used in various analogies. They were never meant to be things that actually existed in the real world.
Yet Yangseol Rin spoke as if every single one of them truly walked the earth.
“Are you saying the people of the Baekri Clan actually possessed such powers?”
“Yes.”
“But the Baekri Clan vanished as though they had evaporated into thin air.”
“Exactly.”
Yangseol Rin gave him a shocking answer.
“That’s precisely why they vanished.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“They self-destructed. Because of that power.” She blinked her large eyes and continued. “Because it wasn’t just one person who could become a Heaven-Dark Star—an existence of terrifying might—but the entire clan.”
Bu Eunseol furrowed his brow.
If legends whispered of such hidden truths about the Baekri Clan, why had the martial world never heard even a rumor of it?
“If they possessed such power, why would they self-destruct?”
“You really are surprisingly innocent, aren’t you? Or perhaps you simply have no greed.” Yangseol Rin folded her arms. “Every single member of the clan had the ability to dominate the world. Do you think they would all quietly crouch like dead mice?”
Bu Eunseol slowly nodded.
A man who holds a staff will always want to swing it.
If the Baekri Clan’s people were that extraordinary, countless among them would have raced to rule the world.
“Does that answer your question?”
Bu Eunseol closed his mouth.
Everything Yangseol Rin said was unverified rumor, yet every word sounded utterly plausible.
“Then allow me just one more question.”
“Mm.” Yangseol Rin sighed. “Fine. But this is the last one.”
She added with a pout, “And you have to grant me two favors in return.”
“Very well.”
Bu Eunseol asked the question that pierced the heart of everything she had told him thus far.
“Why do you seek the Heaven-Dark Star?”
“Because it brings the end of all things.”
Yangseol Rin gazed at him with faintly chilling eyes.
“When the Heaven-Dark Star appears, the world ends. That is a prophecy handed down since the primordial beginning—an oracle from the gods themselves.”
Thump.
For a moment, Bu Eunseol felt as though someone had struck the back of his head.
The words of the Buddha Venerable suddenly resurfaced in his mind.
―The old monk Moryun miscalculated the time when the prophecy would begin.
‘The end will surely come. But the timing was wrong…’
A chill settled in Bu Eunseol’s chest.
If everything Yangseol Rin said was true…
Could the era of final extinction she spoke of be this very generation?
An ominous premonition gripped him.
“Is that enough now?” Yangseol Rin flared her eyes and spoke loudly. “You have nothing more to say, right?”
Yet ever since earlier, one doubt had repeatedly surged within Bu Eunseol.
If all of this were true, why had the martial world never known?
“Just one more thing.”
At his words, Yangseol Rin’s eyes widened like full moons.
“No.”
“This is less a question and more… I simply wish to hear Lady Rin’s thoughts.”
Bu Eunseol looked at her with deeper, more profound eyes than ever before.
“Will you not indulge me?”
His faintly reddish eyes sparkled like morning dew catching the first rays of sunlight.
Yangseol Rin pouted several times, but upon meeting those glistening eyes, she finally thrust out her lips in resignation.
“What is it this time?”
“Why have stories like these never reached the martial world? If even you know them, there must be quite a few others who do.”
“Hmm.” Yangseol Rin folded her arms and put on a grave expression. “Do you know what ‘the tip of the iceberg’ means?”
“Of course.”
“Explain it.”
“An iceberg appears small above the water, but the part beneath the surface is far larger, is it not?”
“Exactly.”
Yangseol Rin spoke with utmost seriousness.
“In the end, the world you see is only a tiny fraction.”
“…”
“There are far too many things hidden in the martial world. Very few have ever descended into the deep abyss and seen the true form of the iceberg.”
“The true form beneath the abyss…” Bu Eunseol’s expression turned subtle.
In short, the martial world he saw was not the whole—there was something far larger and deeper.
‘It does feel that way.’
Just looking at the Yangseol Clan right in front of him was proof enough.
Even Bu Eunseol, who commanded the foremost intelligence network of the Demonic Path, had known nothing of this reclusive clan hidden in the abyss.
That meant the current martial world was not everything he thought it was—countless powers he knew nothing of might exist.
‘The Demon Emperor must know.’
Bu Eunseol instinctively felt it.
The Majeon Lord had descended into that abyss and seen the true face of the present-day martial world.
“So that’s how it is.” Bu Eunseol nodded, then spoke with a hollow expression. “I never imagined that while the Yangseol Clan stayed hidden from the world, they understood so much of it.”
He brought his hands together in genuine admiration.
“Had I heard these things sooner, I would never have entered Majeon. I would have sought the Yangseol Clan by any means.”
It was praise for the clan’s greatness, yet at the same time an indirect question: Why does the Yangseol Clan not step fully onto the stage of the martial world?
“You’re clever.” Yangseol Rin saw through his intent and smiled faintly. “That’s right. Our main house has power, yet we never involved ourselves in the affairs of the martial world.”
“Because you did not wish to follow the same fate as the Baekri Clan?”
“That’s part of it. When one has power, one naturally wishes to use it. If from the very beginning we placed a prohibition on ever stepping into the martial world… such things would never happen, would they?”
Bu Eunseol narrowed his eyes.
He could feel her deliberately avoiding a direct answer.
“Then why involve yourselves in martial world affairs now?”
“If the world itself ceases to exist, what use is it if only our clan survives?”
In other words, the Yangseol Clan intervened only in matters concerning the final extinction of the world. For the preservation of the clan, they never stepped forward otherwise.
“Are all your curiosities satisfied now?”
At her words, Bu Eunseol respectfully brought his hands together.
“Speak. I will help with anything.”
“First, we have to find the Earth-Killer Star.”
“The Earth-Killer Star? Should we not prioritize the Heaven-Dark Star?”
“The Heaven-Dark Star has not definitely appeared yet. But the Earth-Killer Star has. Moreover, they appear periodically.”
“Periodically…?”
“Ah, this is a secret.” Yangseol Rin pursed her lips and whispered. “Generation after generation, our house has imprisoned those bearing the Earth-Killer Star to protect the world. That is why, ever since the Bloody Massacre three hundred years ago, no one called a Great Murder Star has appeared.”
Bloody Massacre.
He was the last recorded Great Murder Star in martial world history, a monster who slaughtered countless commoners and martial artists.
Yet after him, no one worthy of that title had emerged.
And the reason was that the Yangseol Clan had continuously imprisoned those bearing the Earth-Killer Star?
“Why imprison them? Why not simply kill them?”
“You really don’t know anything, do you? If they die, another Earth-Killer Star will inevitably be born.” Yangseol Rin smiled confidently. “But if they are locked in our Thunder Prison for life, the world remains at peace as long as that person lives.”
The Yangseol Clan’s methods and way of thinking were utterly bizarre.
Yet Bu Eunseol hid his feelings and smiled in agreement.
“Impressive. Anyone bearing the Earth-Killer Star must possess considerable power.”
“Idiot. Why else would we read the heavens?”
She delivered yet another shocking statement.
“Their power only manifests after they pass the age of twenty. So we capture and imprison them before that.”
“You imprison people who have committed no crime?”
“If we wait until the Earth-Killer Star awakens, countless people will already be dead. We have to catch them early.”
Bu Eunseol blinked.
He did not believe in fate.
Humans could develop and change without limit through effort alone—that was the teaching of his master, Bu Zhanyang.
Yet to imprison someone for life simply because they were born under the Earth-Killer Star, before they had committed any sin?
Was that not far too cruel?
“That is an evil that must never be done.” Bu Eunseol’s expression grew heavy. “Neither the Yangseol Clan nor even an emperor has the right to imprison the innocent.”
“Didn’t you hear about the Bloody Massacre? If we leave an Earth-Killer Star alone and they harm others, it will already be too late.”
“They might never harm anyone. And they might not even be a true Earth-Killer Star…”
“Don’t worry. There has never been a case where they didn’t harm others, nor a case where someone wasn’t a true Earth-Killer Star.”
Yangseol Rin’s eyes were utterly confident.
From the Yangseol Clan’s perspective, this might be a noble act performed to protect the world.
But to Bu Eunseol, it looked like nothing more than self-righteous tyranny to maintain a twisted sense of justice.
“I know it looks strange. Honestly, even I don’t fully agree with everything.” Yangseol Rin spoke with a serious, solemn expression. “But because of it, the world has remained stable, and our clan has survived.”
“…”
“I simply believe in the result.”
‘Their way of thinking is remarkably similar to the Three Realms.’
In the Infinite Realm of the Three Realms, they claimed to sacrifice a few for the sake of the many, using them in experiments.
Had he not heard of the Yangseol Clan, Bu Eunseol might have mistaken her for a member of the Three Realms.
‘Still…’ He frowned.
Even if he could never agree with the Yangseol Clan’s philosophy, he could not condemn her here and now. He had not personally witnessed their supposed evils, and moreover, she had shown him kindness and shared a great deal of information.
‘I cannot reproach her family’s ways at this moment.’
“If those are the rules of the Yangseol Clan, I have nothing to say about them.” Bu Eunseol spoke as though he had no choice. “But if I ever witness such things before my eyes, I will never tolerate them.”
“Do whatever you want. I have no reason to do it in front of you.”
When Yangseol Rin answered nonchalantly, Bu Eunseol took a deep breath and changed the subject.
“Then did you come out alone to find the Earth-Killer Star?”
“Yes.”
“If the Earth-Killer Star is dangerous enough to threaten tens of thousands of lives, shouldn’t the Yangseol Clan have sent a large force?”
“That too is a principle of our house. Only one person may ever step into the martial world. That way we avoid following the Baekri Clan’s footsteps.”
If many bearing the Yangseol Clan’s abilities appeared at once, they too would draw the attention and envy of the martial world, or some might develop other ambitions.
That was why they made it a rule to send only a single person into the martial world.
“The Yangseol Clan bears the noble mission of protecting the world, yet to eliminate the Earth-Killer Star they sent only you… Doesn’t that seem a rather meager response?”
“Are you saying I cannot defeat the Earth-Killer Star?”
“You yourself could not defeat me.”
Yangseol Rin burst into laughter.
“There were two reasons you beat me so easily. First, because you possessed the Crystal Divine Energy. Second, because I had no intention of fighting you to the death.”
She snorted.
“If I had used the Absolute Boundary, you would never have escaped.”
‘What an unusual name.’
The Special Divine Ranks had once also used completely unknown terms—Domain of Nine Wounds Purgatory, Twin Light Seal, and the like.
That meant the power Yangseol Rin wielded was likely a technique that severely restricted the enemy’s martial arts and internal energy, or created a domain where only their own power worked.
‘It seems closely related to the Imperial Palace martial arts.’
Bu Eunseol pushed aside the flood of questions and drew a deep breath.
He could not shake the feeling that the Yangseol Clan and the Three Realms were connected.
‘I must get to the bottom of this.’
Bu Eunseol fixed a sharp gaze upon Yangseol Rin.
“If what you say is true, ordinary martial world people could never oppose the Yangseol Clan’s techniques.”
“That’s right.”
“Then why would the Yangseol Clan need to impose restrictions upon itself?”
“Hm?”
“Not everyone who possesses great power ends up self-destructing like the Baekri Clan…”
A keen light flashed in his eyes.
“And the Earth-Killer Star is not even a figure directly related to the final extinction of the martial world.”
―Yet you people seem to be meddling in martial world affairs more than you let on.
Bu Eunseol was indirectly pointing out the contradiction in the Yangseol Clan’s claim that they only involved themselves in matters of final extinction.
“Hmph.”
Yangseol Rin swallowed a groan and the corners of her brows twitched slightly.
‘So this is why he’s the successor of Majeon.’
Not only did he ask questions from a grand perspective, he always struck at the core.
“I believe you said you were done with questions.”
“…”
“You said just one more, yet how many have you asked? Offer help first, then talk.”
“My apologies.” Bu Eunseol brought his hands together in an extremely polite gesture. “I will surely repay you for the time I have taken. But I must ask this one thing.”
“Why?”
“Because I have begun to wonder whether the Yangseol Clan might be the head of the very force I have been searching for all this time.”
Yangseol Rin frowned.
She instantly understood that “the force he had been searching for” carried an extremely negative meaning.
“Are you planning to repay kindness with enmity?”
“I am saying this precisely so that I do not repay kindness with enmity.”
Bu Eunseol spoke with utmost seriousness.
“I sincerely hope the Yangseol Clan has no close ties—or is one and the same—with the force I consider my enemy.”
“Which force are you talking about?”
“The Three Realms.”
Yangseol Rin froze.
Her expression and movements made it seem as though time had stopped only around her.
“Ha.”
Suddenly she opened her mouth wide and, pointed at Bu Eunseol’s face and burst into uncontrollable laughter.
“Hahaha!”
Bu Eunseol simply stared straight at her, unmoved by the laughter.
The laughter would stop soon enough.
And the truth would reveal itself.
“I originally wasn’t going to answer anything you said.”
“…”
“But I’ll tell you. Because it’s been a very long time since someone made me laugh this much.”
Yangseol Rin drew a smile on her lips.
“Why does a martial world person like you treat the Three Realms as enemies? Isn’t that extremely strange?”
She then said something utterly bizarre.
“The Three Realms are on your side.”
Bu Eunseol could only make a deeply perplexed face.
The Three Realms were on his side?
What on earth did that mean?
“What are you talking about?”
“I’ll answer briefly. Listen well.”
Yangseol Rin declared firmly.
“First, our main house has no relation whatsoever with the Three Realms. So stop making that scary face.”
“…”
“Second, if anything, the Three Realms could be called enemies of our house. They simply try to protect the martial world from a completely different perspective.”
Bu Eunseol could not understand.
‘Protect? Are they truly protecting the martial world?’
Seeing his confused expression, Yangseol Rin smiled.
“I told you—the world you see is only the tip of the iceberg.”
She continued with a lonely look.
“And perhaps even I am only seeing a part of it.”
In other words, she was indirectly admitting that even she had not reached the very bottom of the abyss.
‘The Three Realms… are protecting the martial world.’
Bu Eunseol rubbed his forehead as though dizzy.
If that were true…
Everything he had done until now might have actually been harming the martial world.
‘I cannot take her words at face value.’
Everything Yangseol Rin had spoken of so casually was unknown to the martial world, yet capable of shaking its very foundations.
“Then…”
Having organized his thoughts, Bu Eunseol took a deep breath.
“The Three Realms, whom I believed sought only to control the martial world in the palm of their hand…” He looked straight into Yangseol Rin’s eyes and continued. “…were in fact created to protect the martial world from certain forces or existences?”
Yangseol Rin’s eyes sparkled.
Bu Eunseol was not only exceptionally intelligent but from a single fact he drew forth countless implications.
That was astonishing insight rarely seen in people his age.
“Correct.”
“Then the Yangseol Clan shares a common enemy with the Three Realms, but because your methods of dealing with that enemy differ, you became adversaries.”
“Well…”
“And perhaps there are other forces opposing the Three Realms besides the Yangseol Clan.”
Bu Eunseol spoke in a low voice.
“For example… the Jungson Clan, perhaps…”
“Stop.”
Yangseol Rin’s face, which had remained playful until now, suddenly hardened into ice.
“If we continue this conversation any further, even you… will become an enemy of our house.”
She declared resolutely.
“So let us end the questions here.”
Bu Eunseol nodded.
He instinctively knew that pressing her further would turn all the goodwill they had built into nothing.
“Understood.” He once again brought his hands together politely. “And… thank you.”
He could not know if her words were true. But she had not deliberately twisted information to confuse him or gain advantage by refusing to answer.
Thanks to her sincere responses, many of his longstanding questions had been somewhat resolved.
“Since favors and debts seem clear…”
Seeing Bu Eunseol’s deadly serious and solemn expression, Yangseol Rin’s eyes grew calm and still.
“I only hope this connection does not turn sour.”
In the martial world, ties between people tangle like threads.
Good ties can become enmity, and those who meet as enemies can become friends.
No one knows how it will end.
“I feel the same.” Bu Eunseol gave a faint nod.
Yangseol Rin was not an evil person. Yet there was no guarantee she would never become his enemy.
Bu Eunseol, too, merely hoped… that their connection would end on a good note.
“Then how exactly may I assist you?”
At his question, Yangseol Rin sighed and answered.
“Normally, finding the aura of an Earth-Killer Star should not be difficult, but this one seems to have learned how to conceal his energy after being imprisoned in our house for so long.”
“Would the intelligence network I command be of help?” Bu Eunseol stroked his chin. “You claim to stay hidden from the world, yet you grasp the state of the martial world this well… You must have a fairly solid information network of your own.”
“But if we add the intelligence network of Majeon’s successor, we should find him even faster, shouldn’t we?”
“I understand what you mean.” Bu Eunseol nodded readily. “While you are in the martial world, I will make sure you may use every intelligence network under my command without restriction.”
He added, “And I will provide unlimited troops for capturing the Earth-Killer Star.”
It was an extraordinarily generous offer.
Yangseol Rin might one day become his enemy. Yet Bu Eunseol intended to repay the kindness she had shown him many times over.
“Even troops? What if I end up clashing with the righteous sects?”
“It is still better than you falling into mortal danger or serious trouble.”
Remembering that she had come out alone into the martial world, Bu Eunseol offered troops.
Yangseol Rin let out a small hum, then nodded. “It was worth telling you everything.”
After taking a deep breath, she gazed at the distant sky.
“I just hope the Heaven-Dark Star never appears.”
Her eyes darkened.
The Heaven-Dark Star—the catastrophic existence said to bring the end of the world—lingered in her mind because it had flickered briefly, then vanished.
‘Wait… the Heaven-Dark Star…’
Bu Eunseol’s heart pounded.
If, contrary to legend, the Baekri Clan had been operating in secret like the Yangseol Clan…
Could Baekri Muha, the man presumed to be his father, have been from that legendary Baekri Clan?
And if others from the Baekri Clan still lived—if someone possessed that tremendous power…
Could that person be the Heaven-Dark Star, and the true culprit who killed his grandfather?
‘Baekri Mujo?’
The thought struck him like lightning—Baekri Mujo, called the Sacred Sword among the Seven Commanders, might be a descendant of the Baekri Clan… and he might be the Heaven-Dark Star himself.
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